Eyes on Asia: Eyes on Asia: VC hits China, BioStar IPO, and Legend splits from GenScript

LaNova lands $42m in venture capital 

LaNova Medicines closed a Series C1 funding with $42 million and immediately started working on its Series C2 round. 

In five years of corporate life, LaNova has built a portfolio of six clinical assets with another ten molecules in preclinical development. It focuses on oncology therapies that target the tumor environment and on immuno-oncology candidates. To date, the company has raised $84 million in venture capital. 

In May 2023, LaNova outlicensed global rights for a novel GPRC5D-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) in 2022 to AstraZeneca for $55 million in upfront and near-term payments. The candidate is in Phase I trials for multiple myeloma.  

One year prior, the company also outlicensed its lead candidate, an ADC targeting Claudin18.2 currently in Phase III trials for gastric cancer, to Turning Point Therapeutics for $25 million upfront. Turning Point was subsequently acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in June 2022, which returned the drug to LaNova this month.  

XellSmart raises $28m for stem cell therapies 

In November 2022, XellSmart Biomedical closed a $28 million Series A funding to support its stem cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. 

The Suzhou -based company uses its gene editing platform to develop pluripotent stem cells that are differentiated into subtype neurons. The company said its clinical-grade induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) treatments are cost-effective and scalable.  

XellSmart has four candidates in preclinical or CMC development. They target Parkinson’s disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), epilepsy, and degenerative age-related macular degeneration.   

XellSmart hopes to file INDs in China for the PD and ALS therapies this year. 

In November 2023, the company’s ALS candidate was granted US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Orphan Drug Designation, a significant milestone for Chinese-origin stem cell therapies. 

The Series A funding was led by well-known Chinese investors Qiming Venture Partners and Lilly Asia Ventures.  

BioStar stages $42m IPO in Hong Kong 

BioStar Pharma closed the books on a Hong Kong IPO that raised $42 million to support its lead drug, Utidelone.  

The company uses its synthetic biology technology platforms to develop Utidelone injectable (UTD1), a microtubule inhibitor produced by a microbial fermentation process. In 2021, Utidelone was approved to treat metastatic breast cancer in China. Biostar pointed out that the drug outperformed paclitaxel in efficacy and safety. 

BioStar is focused on bringing four different formulations (injection, capsule, nano-injection, and ADC) of Utidelone to trials for a total of 16 indications in solid tumor cancers. The company is conducting Utidelone trials in China and the US, with another three candidates in preclinical development. 

On its website, BioStar added that is its actively looking for global partners that would be interested in ex-China rights for co-development of Utidelone injections and capsules. 

Legend and GenScript decouple 

Legend Biotech has split itself off from GenScript Biotech. GenScript considered itself Legend’s majority shareholder. 

Legend was started by GenScript 10 years ago as a China-based chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) company. At the time, it owned all of the company. Now it owns 48% of Legend, but it could control the company at shareholder meetings by voting discretionary proxies – the shares held at the US depository whose shareholders did not provide specific voting instructions. Legend came to an agreement with the depository, JPMorgan Chase, forbidding the proxy voting. 

GenScript, a company that offers biotech research instruments and services, has recently come under the gaze of the BioSecure Act, the effort by the US Congress to prevent China’s biopharma companies from stealing IP. Although it was founded in the US, GenScript has contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) facilities in China. The chief target of the proposed BioSecure Act is WuXi Apptec. 

GenScript said it has not been targeted by the BioSecure Act.  

In one more wrinkle, Legend has been rumored to be a takeover target by an unknown suitor as it gears up for a NASDAQ IPO. 

Legend said the GenScript split was not caused by the BioSecure Act, but instead was driven by its interest in “good corporate governance.”